ChatGPT’s Merged Chat and Work Tab Puts Everything Behind One Usage Meter

OpenAI is preparing to merge the Chat and Work tabs in ChatGPT, according to an email it sent to users, as BleepingComputer reports. The email says the test starts “in the coming weeks” with a small group before wider rollout. 

The desktop app currently splits ChatGPT, with its Chat and Work tabs, from Codex. 

Anthropic merged chat and Cowork features in September in its Claude AI. The part likely to affect users day to day is the meter behind the tabs, not the tabs themselves.

One Allowance Will Cover Chat, Work and Codex

OpenAI’s email says the combined view lets users “move from exploring an idea to having ChatGPT carry it through, all in one place,” with files, plugins, websites, presentations and web tasks that users review as they go. 

Importantly, OpenAI reportedly said “Codex will remain a separate experience in the ChatGPT desktop app,” yet it will draw on the same allowance as ChatGPT. 

Most users won’t notice, though depending on usage and model, some may wait for resets more often, as TechCrunch notes. 

Basic text chats, covered under Unlimited Instant, remain free of meter restrictions and reportedly will not consume the shared usage allowance. 

More advanced AI models and complex tasks use more of the allowance. Users can check their remaining capacity and reset times by tapping their profile icon and navigating to Settings > Usage. 

At the limit, users can wait, upgrade, or buy credits for eligible features. However, OpenAI now also enforces payment card and device limits that prevent users from stacking multiple paid subscriptions to bypass caps. 

OpenAI Doubled Pro Limits on October 29 After Backing Off a Pro 200 Cut

The merge follows a limits reversal. On October 29, OpenAI had planned to reduce the included usage for existing Pro 200 subscribers while keeping the $200 monthly price, then dropped the cut after feedback. 

OpenAI’s Tibo wrote on X that it was “doubling all usage limits for all Pro 100/200/500 tiers and Business Premium, effective today.” 

The report publishes no exact limits for any tier and no end date, and says the changes mainly affect Work and Codex, which share allowances under eligible subscriptions. 

A merged tab that routes more everyday work through that shared pool makes the unpublished numbers matter more.

The December Pool Leaves Plan Sizes and Reset Rules Unanswered

OpenAI’s Help Center says the shared pool starts “in December” for Plus, Pro, and Business plans, with no exact date. 

The usage is reportedly being said token-metered, and the sign-in method decides the pool: Codex signed in with an API key bills at API rates and does not draw on the subscription. 

It also means that a teammate running Codex jobs under someone else’s ChatGPT login would use up that person’s allowance. 

OpenAI has not said how big each plan’s pool is, whether five-hour and weekly resets stay, or how GPT-6 Pro in Chat will count. 

Until it does, the merge is a layout change with an unpriced meter attached.

Source: OpenAI says it’s doubling Pro usage limits and bringing Work features to Chat